It has felt like a whirlwind nine months of Zoom-to-Zoom meetings and high-speed pressure. Last week, we sat down as a team to reflect on our achievements this year; it was a chance to slow down, to connect and breathe. In preparation for this session, our team leaders prepared a detailed list of the changes they made over the past nine months.

I was astounded by the list they gave me – for two reasons. Firstly, because it was a really, really long list and secondly, because if we hadn’t taken time to write it down, we would not have been aware of the extent of our progress. The year would have just felt crazy busy, whereas with this list it is clear to see that we have been hugely productive.

It’s easy to see the big stuff – how much did sales increase, or how many people do we employ, but it’s the smaller steps that take a company forward towards these goals. These steps are harder to see unless you measure and monitor them.

Yet it is important that we measure these smaller steps – to be sure we are going in the right direction and to give us all a chance to see and celebrate the journey towards the bigger successes.

It seems to me that we are great at “to-do lists” but when last did you sit down and write your “Done” list? As we enter the last quarter of this somewhat crazy year, a done list could be just the feel-good boost we need to inspire us.